Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Teten Masduki said the groundbreaking of the red edible oil factory is predicted to be carried out in the third or fourth week of October this year, so that the three pilot projects can start production in January 2023.
Teten said that Details Engineering Design (DED) from the Palm Oil Research Center (PPKS) has been completed, in parallel it has also worked on location permits.
"So January will not be back for production," explained Teten after receiving the SNI document for red edible oil at the Office of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs in Jakarta, Tuesday.
He said the three pilot projects for red edible oil production were spread across North Sumatra Province, namely Deli Serdang, Langkat and Asahan.
According to him, there are three basic reasons for choosing the three districts. The first is close to PPKS. Second, North Sumatra is one of the provinces in Indonesia that has extensive oil palm plantations, and third, there is a partnership with PTPN III.
Coordinating Minister Teten said that his party continues to encourage the production of red edible oil in Indonesia, one of the efforts that has been realized is the issuance of SNI for red edible oil with the number 9098 of 2022.
"There is no need to doubt, this red edible oil is suitable for consumption," said Teten.
In the future, Teten said red edible oil will be marketed at a price below the highest retail price (HET) for cooking oil in general.
"The price of red edible oil will be much cheaper, it could be Rp. 9 thousand per liter by following the fluctuations in CPO prices," he explained
This red edible oil can be cheap because the factory is owned by a cooperative of oil palm farmers and is close to fresh fruit bunches (FFB) so that logistics costs are cheaper because this factory is integrated. Likewise, the market is also expected to be integrated.